Law changes could follow farm worker's death in gas explosion

Thursday 26 April 2018

The law could be changed following the death of a 40-year-old man in a gas explosion, caused by a leaking pipe at a farm in St. Clement, an inquest has heard.

Michal Josef Kmuk died from burns covering 85% of his body on 25 September 2017, two days after the explosion inside his flat at les Tours Farm.

An inquest into his death heard that he was employed on the farm by the Royal Jersey Company as a maintenance worker.

Mr Kmuk's neighbours said they first heard an explosion around 00:30 on 23 September. Jolanta Smolen, whose flat was next to Mr Kmuk's,  said she was woken up by "the alarms and the explosion and the noise of the bathroom wall coming down." She said she could see the exposed pipes with fire between them. When she looked through window inside Mr Kmuk's flat, she said everything was on fire and she couldn't open the door.

Lukasz Killian and Krysztof Rog, Mr Kmuk’s friend who rushed to the scene with his wife, went inside the flat to get Mr Kmuk out after Mr Killian smashed the door with a tile. They both said they could see the fire from outside the unit and that some of the windows had been blown out. Mr Killian said he remembered seeing the fire coming from a pipe under the window. 

After getting Mr Kmuk out, Mr Killian, a retired fire officer from Poland, went back inside the flat to shut the power down as well as the gas mains. He then put the fire out by throwing water at the furniture inside the flat.

Pictured: An aerial view of the property which suffered structural damage in the explosion.

At the inquest, Ms Smolen, Mr Killian, Mr Rog, as well as José Goncalves, another of their colleagues who helped on the scene, were all commended by Pc Glenn Cleave who said they had gone “far and above the actions that would normally be expected of a member of the public.” Advocate Mark Harris, the Deputy Viscount who was sitting as coroner, added that they risked their own safety to rescue their friend, and should be recognised for their efforts.

 Following the explosion, Mr Kmuk was taken to Jersey Hospital and later airlifted to the burns unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. However, medical staff soon recognised that they couldn't stabilise him.

Watch Commander Paul Mc Grath explained that the gas leak started from a pipe that had been 'capped off' after the removal of a heater. He said that the fire started due to the “introduction of an ignition source,” which then caused the gas enriched atmosphere to expand, leading to the explosion. This was consistent with Mr Kmuk saying shortly after the incident that he had wanted to smoke a cigarette. Mr Mc Grath explained the gas pipe might have been knocked sometime during the evening, opening up a gap on the pipe and allowing gas into the apartment. 

Area Commander Mark Johnson described Mr Kmuk’s death as “a preventable fire death.” He explained that the copper elbow fitted at the top of the gas pipe wasn’t completely pushed on. He also noticed that some electrical insulation tape had been put on top of the copper elbow, possibly indicating a previous leak that had been fixed by the occupier. Mr Johnson said the pipe hadn’t been fixed to the wall, meaning that it could easily be moved and kicked around. He added that if the gas supply had been disconnected in the way it had been in other flats at the farm, the “tragic accident” could have been prevented.

The Inquest heard from Kevin Hervé, the owner of Les Tours Farm, and of the accommodation unit in which the explosion occurred. He explained the building had been built in 1992 and that each unit was fitted with a gas cooker, a gas heater and its own meter.  Five years after, the heaters were taken out and Mr Hervé said the work had been carried out by Jersey Gas saying, “There is no doubt that anything to do with gas I went to Gas Place.”

Stuart Crossman, Jersey Gas Director, however said that the company had no records of carrying out the work. He also said that the last visual check in the flat had been in July 2016 after a new gas cooker had been fitted. On that occasion a pressure test was carried out which did not reveal any issues.

Mr Crossman also said that it was common practice for “competent fitters” to cap off any pipe and that the repair done in the flat was not “industry standard repair technique.” 

Deputy Viscount, Advocate Mark Harris, concluded that the cause of the explosion had been a damaged and leaking gas pipe which Mr Kmuk had accidentally ignited when he attempted to light a cigarette. He said that in order to prevent any future deaths, landlords should be advised to check their property on a regular basis to check the state and safety of the facilities. 

He added that a copy of his report would be sent to the Chief Minister who could then direct it to the right departments to bring legislation changes. Potential changes mentioned during the inquest were the introduction of mandatory carbon monoxide detectors, the extension of the Health and Safety law to work accommodation and stricter regulations around agriculture accommodation.